Wear a smiling mask & change.
Unwashed hair changes another life:
First, cloudy day; it is always so.
At the window thinking of other places.
Then, too, tomorrow’s tortillas depend
on some crucial moment, much like a January
in California. Interesting faces: the derelicts,
the dreamers, the useless riff-raff of the world,
artists, poets, poets, etc.
Second, after four cloudy days
Gentle rain is falling. The afternoon
sheltered by the cloister walls. I am
protected not only from
(Who might discover rust
on my instruments for self-torture?
Tomorrow’s tortillas…
Tomorrow’s tortillas…
Once around the room I went
acknowledging the plaudits,
tossing back the canes & hats,
— then)

protected not only from
the elements & beasts of the wild,
but from prying people
who might discover rust
on my instruments for self-torture.
Tomorrow’s tortillas depend upon the cloister walls.
Tomorrow’s tortillas depend upon that sitting.
Gentle rain is around the room. Poets, poets,
derelicts like a January in Unwashed hair.
At the window I wear a smiling riff-raff
of the world. The dreamers who might discover
it is always First, cloudy day. & change the etc.
Gentle rain is then, too, not only the plaudits,
the canes & hats, but the other places tossing back
interesting faces. It is always so.
Another life in the afternoon of California.